Term
| What is GroupThink, when is it used? |
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Definition
• Used as a post event analysis
• When group members' desires for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action.
• Helps us understand why groups make bad decisions |
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Term
| Is groupthink interpretive or social scientific? |
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Definition
| • Interpretive perspective (reflective point of view)/ current research is soc. sci |
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Term
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Definition
1. Conditions in groups promote high cohesiveness: (the extent to which group members are willing to work together.)(strong social dynamic, things that bond us together, working as a unit)
a. High cohesiveness: beware, you are at risk in making bad decisions
2. Group problem solving is primarily a unified process. (come together, and working on it together)
a. Affiliative constraints: group members withhold their input rather than risk rejection |
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Term
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Definition
1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking( we are good people, nothing bad can happen)
2. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions(critical voices coming in, not doing things for certain reasons)
3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions(if you believe if you are moral, you don’t have to think serious on the consequences)
4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group
5. Direct pressure to conform places on any member who question the group
6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from group consensus
7. Illusions of unanimity among group members (all get an idea that we all agree, its an illusion)
8. Mind guards- self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information( have important info but don’t share it with the group) |
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Term
| 7 ways to Prevent Groupthink |
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Definition
1. Leaders should assign each member the role of "critical evaluator"
2. Higher-ups should not express an opinion when assigning a task to a group
3. The organization should set up more than one independent group to work on the same problem
4. All effective alternatives should be examined
5. Each member should discuss the group's ideas with trusted people outside the group
6. Outside experts should be invited into the meeting
7. At least one group member should be assigned the role of devil's advocate. |
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Term
| Groupthink Critiques:Strengths |
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Definition
1. heuristic (many people have recently researched in, and have talked about it)
2. Insightful and intuitively appealing |
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Term
| Groupthink Critiques:Weaknesses |
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Definition
1. Limited scope
2. Not well tested
3. Poor empirical support |
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